Treasure hunt begins in England

Chapter 267 Bamboo Slips
"35, my friend." Carter thought for a while and said, "I bought this thing four years ago, and it cost 30 at that time. Considering inflation, I think it's more appropriate to count these things as 35."

"Let me take a look at the whole thing, okay?" After hearing the offer, Liang En was silent for a few seconds, and then made a request.

Soon, Liang En discovered that there were more than 800 pieces of these bamboo slips under the deliberately dimmed light, and on them were written some characters that should be from Chu State in the Spring and Autumn Period of China.

After confirming what these words were, Liang En knew why the Japanese were willing to sell this thing for more than 30 US dollars.

You know, less than half of the Chu characters have been deciphered today.So the Japanese probably didn't recognize the text on it after cleaning up these things.

In other words, there was a high probability that the Japanese collector didn't figure out what was written on these bamboo slips back then, and then he disappeared.

Considering that the collector died suddenly in an accident, his heirs obviously took the untranslated thing as an ordinary bamboo slip and sold it among other collections.

After all, the value of this type of item is closely related to the content on it, so $30 is already a high price if you don’t know what the content recorded on it is.

In particular, Carter specifically told Liang En that the heir didn't understand antiques at all, and that the auction was held in private to avoid paying taxes. Before that, only two people were invited to check the auction items and set prices.

However, in Liang En's eyes, these bamboo slips were obviously not as simple as what Carter said.After careful inspection, he found that these bamboo slips were probably the legendary water-saturated bamboo slips.

Water-saturated bamboo slips refer to bamboo slips with an internal water content as high as 80% due to long-term soaking. Such bamboo slips are often as soft as noodles when found, and cannot be lifted whole, making them very fragile as a whole.

But after a series of complex treatments and dehydration, these bamboo slips will return to their original yellow color, look like new, and can be displayed normally.

These water-saturated bamboo slips usually appear in some seriously flooded cemeteries in southern China. Because water can isolate oxygen, these organic matter can be preserved for a long time.

After taking out several compartments containing the bamboo slips in the box, Liang En found that there were several large pieces of plexiglass plates at the bottom of the box, and inside were some patterns with red and black paint on them. thin wooden planks.

"The person who sold this thing said that these things used to be the lacquer boxes that contained the bamboo slips, but they rotted and fell apart after a long time, so he kept the rest like this."

Seeing Liang En staring at the painted wooden fragments, Carter immediately explained beside him. "You know, it's hard to preserve these things completely after they're buried in the ground—"

"Okay, I want this." Before Carter finished explaining, Liang En said immediately.Then he put the contents of the box in the same way, and then put the lid on the box.

In the following time, Liang En seemed a little absent-minded, so he chose some very common high-end goods for the remaining 3 US dollars, and filled two boxes full of things like silverware or porcelain.

After putting all the things in the car, Liang En shook hands and said goodbye to Carter, and then several people drove to the DHL Express branch in the city to prepare to mail these things back to Europe.

To be honest, it is not a simple matter to mail such things. Fortunately, Pierce often needs to deal with this type of work, so under his guidance, everyone successfully mailed those things.

"Why did you finally mail that box of Bamboo Simples home?" On the way back, Pierce asked casually, "Aren't you going to sell those things?"

"Of course not, I plan to see what is written on that thing." Liang En said with a smile. "Anyway, I'm an expert in deciphering ancient languages. So when I see something I don't know, I always want to see what is written on it."

Liang En's statement easily convinced the two men present. From their point of view, it was very reasonable for Liang En to see Lie Xinxi and plan to translate the words on the bamboo slips.

Pierce even felt that it would be easier for Liang En to translate the bamboo slips than it was to translate the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics at that time, because compared with the completely lost ancient Egyptian characters, Chinese characters have been handed down at least until today, and the translation should be easier.

Because of previous work and handling various things, everyone obviously relaxed a lot when they came to the previously booked hotel, but as soon as they put their luggage in their rooms, Joan of Arc dragged Liang En to the hotel downstairs The attached cafe is walked past.

Seeing this scene, Pierce and Fan Meng just smiled, and then went downstairs to the bar for a drink. In their opinion, it is better for them to avoid chatting with friends and girls, and not to be a light bulb. .

But the fact is completely different from what they thought. After sitting down in the coffee shop and seeing no one around, Joan lowered her voice and asked, "Is there anything wrong with the bamboo slip before? Something's wrong."

"Because it was discovered that the devil's process of obtaining the bamboo slips was illegal." Faced with Joan of Arc, an absolutely reliable follower of history, Liang En naturally didn't have to hide it.

"Illegal, how did you find out?" Joan of Arc showed a curious expression. Recently, she checked a large number of books on archaeology and cultural relics identification, but she didn't see anything wrong with those bamboo slips just now. .

"Because those bamboo slips were formed after processing the water-saturated bamboo slips." Liang En said seriously, it's normal that Joan of Arc didn't know the joints inside, after all, even Liang En didn't learn this thing when he was in school.

The reason why he understands this water-filled bamboo slip is that a few years before he traveled in his previous life, the excavation of Haihunhou's tomb was full of excitement, and many bamboo slips soaked in water for thousands of years were found in Haihunhou's tomb.

At that time, Liang En was curious about how these bamboo slips could survive soaking in water for thousands of years, so he searched a lot of information, and these materials naturally included a lot of simple scientific introductions about saturated bamboo slips and how to deal with such bamboo slips. .

On the way before he came here, he used his mobile phone to inquire about this aspect of knowledge, and found that the technical level of the two worlds is almost the same in this aspect, and even the timing of technological advancement is similar.

That is to say, the technique of dehydrating and repairing saturated bamboo slips appeared after the 20s, so the batch of bamboo slips in Liang En's hands can basically be determined to be the Japanese devils through some illegal and despicable means. The obtained ones belong to the illegal circulation of cultural relics.

"It turned out to be like this, but now these things have been washed, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to send them back by express so easily just now."

After listening to the ins and outs of the matter, Joan of Arc stared seriously at Liang En who was sitting across from her and asked.

"Do you have any other ideas about these things?"

(End of this chapter)